THE cries for 'Help!' from newly-hatched orphaned ducklings John and Paul led to their dramatic rescue on the banks of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.
They were named by Beatles fans and British Waterways employees Paul Jeffries and John Morrell, who found them near the old Jepson's mill, which is soon to make way for the new B&Q store in Blackburn.
John, the Blackburn lock-keeper, heard the tiny birds' cries and had to climb over a ten foot wall at the canal side, along with Paul, to locate the birds. Paul, a Leeds-Liverpool canal inspector, said: "We could hear them squeaking but it took us ages to find them. We finally did and they were in some old guttering.
"They were only two or three days old and had been abandoned by their mother. They were very hungry."
John and Paul called the RSPCA who arrived within ten minutes to take the ducklings to a centre in Preston where they are being cared for under heat lamps while they get strong enough to be released.
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